Hero's Welcome
by Kizmet
Summary: After the fight with Majin Boo adjusting to normal life takes a little effort.
1. Vegeta and family

**Hero's Welcome**

**Disclaimer: **Characters and settings are the property of Akira Toriyama, I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit fun.

* * *

It had been hours since the battle against Majin Boo had ended and still neither Bulma nor Trunks showed any inclination to release Vegeta. He shifted slightly, his stiff posture betray his discomfort but he didn't push them away from him and they clung to him as if they were afraid he'd disappear if they let go.

Academically Vegeta understood it. He shouldn't have survived the battle. Technically he hadn't survived it and he still half-way expected King Enma to show up and drag him off to HFIL to set right the mistake that had been made when he returned to life along with all the _good_ people who'd died during the battle. He understood why they acted like he could vanish at any moment but he didn't quite understand why they cared. Only a few days ago the woman had watched him kill several hundred people in his efforts to convince her oldest and dearest friend to treat him like a serious threat. And the boy...

He made a conscious effort not to abuse the boy every day. Vegeta wanted to be a decent father but his own childhood had been dominated by brutality and it was the only thing that came naturally to him. Not being abusive was a long way from being a good father. It had taken the prospect of immanent death to get Vegeta to hug his eight-year-old son for the first time.

Vegeta smirked wryly; that gesture truly brought him full circle. The first time _his_ father had hugged him or told him he was proud of him had been just before King Vegeta had sent him to Frieza; just before his father had made him a sacrifice for the good of their people. The first time Vegeta hugged his own son and told the boy that he was proud of him had been just before Vegeta had chosen to sacrifice _himself_ in a desperate bid to secure the safety of his mate and his child, the only people he truly cared about. Apparently they cared about him too.

"I think Trunks is asleep," Bulma whispered. "Why don't you put him to bed." Her voice carried a suggestive tone and inspired Vegeta to be very careful _not_ to wake Trunks up as he carried the boy upstairs. He was surprised at how much more natural it felt to hold his son this time, the second time he'd done it.

Bulma followed him up to Trunks' room. She pulled back the covers then tucked Trunks in once Vegeta had laid him in his bed.

Then Bulma took Vegeta's hand and led him to their room.

Vegeta grinned at his mate's unusual aggressiveness. He let her push him back onto their bed. Normally her touch was an invitation, this time she didn't have the patience to wait for him to respond. Bulma's hands clenched around his fingers, never letting go for a second. She broke off their kiss to suck on his throat then layered kisses across his collar bone as she sought to fill her sense with him, to prove his reality to herself by touching every part of him. Her slight weight shifted over him deliciously.

When he couldn't take her assault passively any longer Vegeta pulled her close and rolled them over. Bulma writhed beneath him as their sudden change in position drove him deeply into her.

Vegeta paused a moment just to watch her. It had been more than a decade since he first saw her and she was still the most desirable woman he'd ever met. Especially at moments like this when her expression held only undisguised need for him. Her eyes locked on his; an endless blue drawing him in. "Vegeta," she whispered. Then there was no more hesitation.

Once their passion was spent they lay together quietly. Vegeta hand rested on Bulma's back. She used his shoulder for a pillow as her fingers traced random patterns on his chest.

Vegeta didn't really want to break the mood but he hated having things hanging over his head. "You're not going to bitch me out over the humans I killed at the Tournament?" he asked.

Bulma flinched. "Goku explained about that," she said. "I know it wasn't you, it was Bobbidi making you act like that."

Vegeta was surprised then a suspicion entered his mind. "When did Kakarrot have time to talk with you? You've been hanging on me ever since I got to the Look Out."

Bulma shuddered violently, her arms tightened around him with a strength he hadn't known she possessed. "It was right after... Oh god; I felt you die Vegeta!"

After that Vegeta couldn't think of anything to do or say except to hold her while she cried.

Once he was certain Bulma was deeply asleep Vegeta gently disentangled himself and flew out the window. He landed on the roof. //Kakarrot!// he commanded mentally.

//Yeah 'Geta?// Goku responded sleepily.

//Come here. As much as I dislike seeing you, having you in my head is worse.//

Goku appeared a few moments later still dressed for bed. "What'd ya want to talk about?" he asked with a yawn.

"You didn't tell Bulma that I allowed Bobbidi to take me over," he accused.

"Didn't see the point," Goku replied.

"Yes, your ridiculous human custom of not speaking ill of the dead," Vegeta interrupted.

"Naw, I didn't tell her 'cause it didn't work," Goku said.

"I killed over three hundred people to force you into a battle which provided Bobbidi with the energy he needed to revive Boo. Boo went on to kill everyone you care for; your son, your mate, your friends, everyone on this planet in fact," Vegeta pointed out.

Goku shrugged. "It all worked out in the end. You couldn't stop loving Bulma and Trunks even when you tried. You only went through with that suicide attack because we thought Boo had killed Gohan..."

"It wasn't out of guilt over your brat," Vegeta said quickly. "He defeated Cell, that Boo could take him out that easily... I couldn't think of anything else that had a chance of success."

"You saw that Goten was gotten to safety as well as Trunk."

Vegeta chose not to respond to that.

"Look, you wanted to fight me. I was only supposed to be back for one day and after seeing Bobbidi's first couple flunkies you assumed Gohan could deal with Boo. I figured the same actually. When you realized that you miscalculated you gave up everything to try to make it right," Goku said. "You even remembered to word the wish especially to bring back the people you'd killed along with everyone Boo killed even when you figured that wording would keep _you_ from being revived. Face it Vegeta, you're just not evil."

Vegeta looked deeply offended. Then he sighed. "Perhaps not completely, but I would have chosen to become evil..."

"You thought Gohan could handle..."

"I wanted Bobbidi to erase my feelings for my family!" Vegeta exclaimed. "I wanted that because I can't kill you when I look at you and see my mate's childhood friend and the father of my son's best friend instead of seeing my enemy, the rival who took position I should have had by right!"

Goku flinched. "Is beating me really that important to you?"

"YES!" Vegeta exclaimed then calmed. "Or I thought so but in the end I chose them over defeating you didn't I?"

Goku smiled. "Yeah and you even fused with me. I really didn't want to fuse with Gohan or Mr. Satan. Gohan has his own life to live and Mr. Satan..."

"Is a worthless bag of hot air."

Goku didn't disagree. "_And_ you didn't kill Boo when you could have."

"Do not tell yourself it was my choice to spare him," Vegeta said. "Because I will be telling you 'I told you so' when he goes on another rampage."

"You mean you only did that because I told you to?" Goku asked. For a second his eyes took on the hard clarity of his battle mode then he looked away from Vegeta and started stammering. "You know I wouldn't... And Super Saiyan Three doesn't really work for me now that I'm alive again. We're probably pretty close to equal now."

Vegeta gritted his teeth as he realized that Kakarrot had finally figured out that he had deferred to the younger Saiyan's judgement simply because Kakarrot was stronger than he was. Goku was obviously horribly uncomfortable with the thought that Vegeta was afraid of him on some level. Vegeta was disgusted with himself for not being the stronger of the two and for not being able to overcome the conditioning of his childhood.

"Stop trying to be nice Kakarrot," Vegeta snapped. "You are stronger than I am."

"... And once you get used to the idea of Boo being around I'm sure you won't mind him," Goku babbled on. "Even though you died fighting him it wasn't anything personal."

Vegeta grunted but didn't outright disagree.

"I mean I wouldn't ask you to spare someone like Frieza."

"An easy promise fool," Vegeta snorted. "There will never be anyone else like Frieza for me and _he _is already dead."

"Boo will be a good ally the next time a bad guy come along..."

"Assuming he isn't the next villain we fight."

"And if we can teach him the difference between a battle and a spar can you imagine the sort of sparring partner he'd be?" Goku finished enthusiastically.

Vegeta looked at him oddly. "I don't know what is more disturbing: Your insistence on being _nice_ or when you remind me that you are Saiyan underneath all that human crap you continually spew."

"Geeze Vegeta, you don't have to make 'nice' sound like a four letter word," Goku complained.

"It _is_ a four letter word moron." Vegeta rolled his eyes.

Goku looked baffled for a moment. "Like a swear word," he corrected.

"It should be one of those as well," Vegeta stated with a smirk.

Goku sighed and gave up the fight.

Vegeta's head cocked to one side as if he were listening to something in the distance. "The woman's ki is rising," he said. "If I'm not there when she wakes up she'll make me listen to her screeching." Vegeta's mouth quirked slightly. "You should get home as well Kakarrot, your mate's screeching is ten times worse than mine."

"And Chichi has that frying pan of hers," Goku admitted. "But why would she be mad if I'm gone when she wakes up?" he finished cluelessly.

Vegeta shook his head. "You really are a moron. You've been dead for seven years. It will take time for it to sink in for your family that you are back," he said. "And, unlike you, your wife can't sense your ki to verify that you are alive."

"Oh. Thanks Vegeta, you're pretty smart."

"Consider it a debt repaid," Vegeta ordered as he thought about not having to deal with Bulma knowing that it had taken him nearly throwing away his family for him to figure out where his priorities truly lay.

Goku touched his fingers to his forehead and vanished.

Vegeta went back inside and slid into bed beside Bulma. He feigned sleep rather than having her suspect that he'd ever been elsewhere.

Bulma spooned up against his back and draped her arm over his waist. He felt her nuzzle he back of his neck. "I was so afraid I'd lost you," she whispered. "First to your past, then when you... Don't scare me like that again Vegeta."

Vegeta didn't reply but he moved his hand to cover Bulma's in a silent promise.


	2. Goku and Chichi

**Hero's Welcome**

**Disclaimer: **Characters and premise are the property of Akira Toriyama, I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit fun.

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'Vegeta was right,' Goku thought. He'd popped into the Otherworld when King Kai had asked for a quick favor and Pikkon had been there, they got to sparring and he'd been a little bit, just a few hours, well, less than a day late getting home. Explaining what had happened _hadn't_ made the situation better.

"You refused to be wished back seven years ago. You haven't even _been_ back a whole month and you're already going back there! If you could have finished the fight against Boo without coming to life you would have, wouldn't've you Goku?" Chichi shrieked accusingly. "Do you really hate being around us so much?"

Goku felt a small measure of relief when he saw Gohan quietly leading his little brother out of the house.

"Chichi, you know that isn't true," Goku stated.

"Do I?" Chichi asked. "I know you could have been wished back to life within days of the first time you died but you chose to stay dead for a year instead."

"But Chichi, I had to-"

"I know you could have been wished back to Earth after you fought Frieza but you chose to take another whole year to get back on your own."

This time Goku didn't try to offer an explaination. Sure Instant Transmission had proved it's worth time and time again, but there hadn't been a pressing need when he learned it. It had just been something new and interesting for him to master.

"I know you could have been wished back to life after Cell but you WOULDN'T ALLOW IT!"

"I had to do something Chi." Goku protested. "Gohan doesn't like fighting, I didn't realize that until Cell but this last tournament was the first time he's ever trained just for fun-"

"SO YOU DIED!! That makes a hell of a lot of sense Goku! With you dead who was going to fight them if not Gohan?"

"I died so they'd stop coming!" Goku exclaimed. "And it worked didn't it? For seven years no one bad came. But before that Radditz came because he was looking for me. Vegeta and Nappa were following Radditz. Frieza came to the Earth because I beat him on Namek. The Androids and Cell were created to kill me-"

"And what would have happened if you hadn't been here when they came looking for you?" Chichi interrupted. Her voice turned sarcastic, "Oops, sorry to have bothered you, we were looking for Goku. Excuse us we'll just be on our way now. Is that what would have happened hmmm?"

"For seven years nobody bothered you," Goku repeated.

"And we had peace for five years before that awful Radditz came, while you were alive!" Chichi said. "You didn't even ask us what we wanted Goku. You just decided we were better off without you. We should have had this fight seven years ago. You should have given me the chance to tell you I was pregnant and I wanted our baby to have a father. And now you're back and the first thing you do is run off to the Otherworld!" Chichi's voice rose precipitously as she remembered why this had come up.

When she'd heard Goku was coming back for the day of the Tournament she'd resolved not to bring it up; what was done was done and she didn't want to waste what little time they had together as a family on pointless remonstrations. But now Goku was back for real and he didn't seem to want to be back.

"Is it me?" Chichi demanded. "Is being married to me so awful that you'd rather be dead?"

Goku caught Chichi's chin and forced her to meet his eyes. "Now you're just being silly. Chichi, I've been in love with you ever since I learned what being in love was and I always will be in love with you."

Tears slowly filled Chichi's eyes. "Then why don't you want to be with me?"

"It's not that Chichi!" Goku protested.

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know," Goku said after a time. "It's not like I stop loving you when I'm not with you."

"It's just that you don't want to be with me," Chichi accused.

"Chi! I rather be with you and the boys than with anyone else," Goku protested.

"That's a lie."

"Is not. I stayed for five years after we got married and three years after getting back from Namek. I've never stayed with anyone else for more than a year since Grandpa Gohan died.

Chichi stopped. She knew Goku had spent years alone after his Grandfather died until Bulma had stumbled across him during her first Dragonball hung. After that he had tended to stay with various people for a short time to train but mostly he had met up with his friends for tournaments or adventures. The times between he'd spent wandering and training on his own.

'Did that make it better?' Chichi thought to herself. There was no one Goku would rather be with than his family but for all his good natured friendliness Goku spent most of his life alone.

"I can't even blame it on you being Saiyan," Chichi sighed. Ever since learning about what Radditz was Chichi had found it easy to blame everything that didn't work out the way she'd hoped on Saiyans or Saiyan ancestry, but not this time. "Vegeta's rarely more than a hundred yards away from Bulma."

"He said you'd get mad if I wasn't around when you expected me to be," Goku admitted. "Sorry Chi. I didn't think..." Goku trailed off with a shrug.

Chichi easily interpreted the confusion in his eyes. He didn't know why she was so upset, even now. Goku wandered in and out of people's lives like a ship without an anchor. Distance, time and even death meant almost nothing to him.

'There was some comfort in knowing it wasn't personal,' Chichi decided. Sometimes, on bad days, she'd found herself remembering jokes or comments Goku's friends had made about her, about their marriage, and had wondered if they were right. But along with that came the understanding that Goku would never change, it was just the way he was. He loved them, but he was too used to being alone to ever miss them the way they missed him.

Chichi's shoulders slumped. Over the years Goku had become used to, and somewhat immune to Chichi's temper, but he couldn't stand to see her looking so defeated. "I always came back to you-"

"After Cell?" Chichi reminded him.

"I would have been there to meet you when you crossed over, I swear it Chichi," Goku said quietly. His hands settled on her shoulders.

Chichi found herself staring at his hands. They were a little larger, a little more heavily callused, had a few more scars, but they were fundamentally unchanged from those of the boy she'd fallen in love with. _He_ hadn't changed from the boy she fell in love with, the boy she'd married. An ironic smile tugged at Chichi's mouth, the boy she'd hunted across the continent when she realized he'd forgotten about his promise to marry her. She started laughing.

Goku knelt in front of her and stared at her with worried eyes. "Chichi? You okay?" he asked.

"Just so you know Goku," Chichi warned him, still laughing. "If you wander off for too long, I'm not going to wait for you to come home... I'm going to come looking for you."

Goku grinned once he was sure she wasn't hysterical. "With a frying pan no doubt," he remarked as he rubbed his head. "I'll have to make sure it doesn't come to that."

Chichi checked, saw that yes, he was just teasing her but the promise was real and returned his smile. "You better believe it mister."


	3. Gohan and OSHS

**Hero's Welcome**

**Disclaimer: **Characters and premise belong to Akira Toriyama. I'm just borrowing them for this story.

**Notes: **I'm using the name spellings from the Viz manga, not from the Funimation dub. For example Boo, rather than Buu.

* * *

Videl knocked uncertainly on the Son's door promptly at six-thirty on a Monday morning two weeks after the world had been saved from Buu.

Chichi opened the door. "Hello dear, I'm so glad you came."

"Hello Son-san, I'd be happy to help out in anyway I can but... well... what's the problem?" Videl asked.

Chichi beamed. "Such a wonderful attitude." She handed Videl a frying pan. "Now if you could hold this."

Videl stared at the frying pan, utterly mystified.

"Goku!" Chichi shouted.

"We're coming," Goku sounded like he was exerting himself. Videl wondered what sort of task could possibly make_ him_ struggle.

A few minutes later Goku pushed an extremely reluctant Gohan into the kitchen. Goten trailed behind them, the little boy looked worried and amused all at the same time.

"I'm not going back to school and that's final!" Gohan declared.

"My son will _not_ become a drop-out!" Chichi replied with equal determination.

"But Mom! They all know now! Everyone's going to think I'm a freak!"

"It's not like you did something bad Gohan," Goku said. Videl's eyes widened. She hadn't known Son Goku that long but she already knew to be shocked at him sounding frustrated. "You stopped criminals, you saved the world, why do you act like you're ashamed?"

"They're going to know I'm _different_!" Gohan exclaimed.

Goku blinked in confusion. "So?"

"They're gonna stare and talk about me and act all weird around me." Gohan insisted. "They're going to be scared of me."

"Now Gohan, that's just silly," Goku objected. "Bulma and Kuririn stayed friends with me even when they found out I was an alien sent here to wipe out all life on the planet."

Videl stared at Goku, her eyes bugging out of her head as the frying pan Chichi had given her slowly slipped out of her nerveless grasp.

The sound of the frying pan clanging against the floor drew both Goku and Gohan's attention to Videl.

"Dad!" Gohan exclaimed accusingly.

"Hiya big sis!" Goten exclaimed happily. "What ya doing here? Are you here for breakfast? Mommy's making pancakes 'cause they're the best and big brother isn't happy about school. Mommy though pancakes might cheer him up."

Videl focused on Goten's happy chatter and pushed the bit about Gohan's father and wiping out all life on the planet to the back of her head. "Hi Goten. Hi Gohan. Your mom asked me to stop by before school but I don't know why?" She looked toward Chichi questioningly.

"Oh yes." Chichi picked up the frying pan and handed it back to Videl. "Well as you heard Gohan is being a bit difficult about going back to school. Goku and I can't go to class with him so if he tries to skip out without a good reason I want you to know that you have my explicit permission to wap him over the head with that frying pan," she said cheerfully.

Videl leaned over and whispered in Gohan's ear, "Is your mom an alien too?"

"Nope," Gohan said.

Chichi set a heaping platter of pancakes on the table. "Now everyone, eat up or you'll be late for school even with Goku's instant transmission technique."

Videl picked at her pancakes while the three Son males devoured the huge stack Chichi had put on the table. Finally she couldn't resist any longer. "Did you really come here to kill everyone?" she asked Goku. After everything she'd seen Videl didn't feel the need to question the part about Goku being an alien, just watching the three of them eat was proof enough that they couldn't possibly be human.

Goku glanced up and mumbled something through a mouthful of food. Chichi cleared her throat meaningfully. Goku swallowed and repeated. "Yeah, but I hit my head and forgot all about it. Grandpa Gohan took me in and raised me as his own... I didn't even know I was an alien until Gohan here was four."

"Oh," Videl said faintly.

Chichi looked pointedly at the clock and the rest of the food on the table disappeared like magic. She handed Gohan his backpack and kissed him on the cheek. "It won't be that bad," she promised. "Stop looking at me like I'm sending you to your execution."

"Yes mother," Gohan sighed.

"Grab hold of me," Goku instructed and the next thing Videl knew they were standing in front of Orange Star High School.

"Hey Gohan, Videl," Yamcha said. "Goku, tell Chichi she owes me. I can't believe she made me come here and play sign post for you guys." He waved and walked off.

"Bye guys," Goku said. "I promised Goten he could show me all the neat places you guys found around the place."

Gohan smiled at that. He knew his father had found most of those places when he'd been a child, after all he'd been the one to show them to Gohan who had showed them to Goten in turn. But Goku would never spoil Goten's fun by letting on that he already knew about the secret places Goten wanted to share with him.

Goku touched two fingers to his forehead and vanished.

Gohan looked back at the school and his smile vanished just as quickly.

"It won't be that bad," Videl assured him. "I've never seen you make such a fuss about anything."

Gohan chuckled nervously and scratched at the back of his head. "I guess it's my dad being back. I don't know, it's like... it's stupid. Ever since I've been a little kid it was like there was always some catastrophe looming over us, then Dad died and it was sort of my fault. I didn't want to make things worse for Mom then I already had. But now Dad's back so if I feel like being stubborn or a pain I can. Does that make any sense at all?"

Videl smiled crookedly. "I get it." she said. Videl hooked her arm through Gohan's. "Lets go. You might feel like giving your Mom a hard time, but I did promise to wap you over the head if you weren't in class and I'd hate to break a promise."

As Gohan had feared people whispered, stared and gave him a wide berth but with Videl at his side it wasn't quite as bad as he thought it would be. "Maybe when we wish their memories of Boo away we can wish for them to forget about me getting unmasked at the Tournament," Gohan sighed quietly to Videl. She rolled her eyes at him and led him into their home room.

"Where's Sharpner?" Videl asked as they took their seats beside Eresa.

"He's not sick is he?" Gohan asked forgetting his own predicament for a moment.

Eresa looked guilty. "He's got a bad case of can't go to school on account of him being afraid Gohan might be mad about all the times Sharpie's called him Nerd-boy and all. You _wouldn't_ hurt him would you? I mean he's an idiot and a jerk sometimes but that's just Sharpie ya know, he doesn't mean anything by it."

Gohan looked miserable. He and Sharpner weren't friends in the strictest sense of the word but they ate lunch together, sat together in class and generally hung out together with Videl and Eresa while they were at school. If Sharpner was afraid of him now what were the rest of his classmates thinking?

Videl looked from Sharpner's empty seat to Gohan's brooding look to Eresa wringing her hands nervously and threw up her arms in frustration. "This is stupid!" she exclaimed. "Gohan's exactly the same person he was before the Tournament. We all saw him jump fifteen feet in the air and take a fast ball to the head without blinking on his first day of school. Stop acting like he's suddenly different."

Videl glared at Gohan and Eresa. "Come on, we're going over to Sharpner's house and dragging his malingering ass to school." Neither Gohan nor Eresa had the nerve to argue with her. "Gohan, carry Eresa. I didn't bring my jet-copter and I'm not sure I could fly while carrying another person without dropping them."

Gohan gulped and vary gingerly picked Eresa up by the waist being very careful to avoid any impropriety or holding her too close.

Eresa 'eeped' when Gohan followed Videl out the window but was soon whooping with glee as they zoomed across town.

They landed on Sharpner's front step. Videl knocked authoritatively.

They heard Sharpner walk to the door, gasp when he saw Gohan through the peep-hole then they heard the sound of furniture being dragged in front of the door.

"Sharpner, open this door right now or I'll break it down!" Videl threatened. "You are being _sooo_ stupid!"

Tentatively Sharpner opened the door a crack. "You're not going to beat me up?" he asked Gohan.

Gohan grinned weakly. "If being thought of as a nerd really bothered me do you think I would come to school wearing long sleeves and loose clothing? I mean you _have_ figured out that I wasn't trying to hide a lack of muscles, right?"

"You are pretty much a nerd," Videl teased Gohan, in hopes that it would reassure Sharpner. "You break the curve on practically every test we take."

Gohan blushed and scratched the back of his head.

Sharpner opened the door a bit more. "You're really not mad?"

"Saiyaman is just what I can do, Gohan is who I am. You know I don't go around beating people up for calling me names," Gohan sighed. "I hid what I could do because I didn't want people acting like they had to be scared of me. I just want you to act like normal."

"Gohan hasn't killed my dad yet so I don't think you have anything to worry about," Videl said.

Curiosity got Sharpner to open the door all the way. "Why would Gohan be mad at Mr. Satan?" he asked as the other three filed in.

"Well to start with flying and ki blasts aren't tricks," Videl reminded him. "Secondly, picture the Gold Fighter seven years younger."

"Videl!" Gohan squeaked.

"Look Gohan, I know your group decided not to publicly humiliate my father for some reason but I don't want to lie to my friends," Videl said.

"You're the delivery boy from the Cell Games," Eresa realized. She sat down heavily. Sharpner gaped.

"Yeah," Videl said. "And despite what my dad has said, repeatedly, to the whole world, there weren't any tricks at the Cell Games. No wires, no mirrors, no pre-set explosives, nothing. My dad didn't beat Cell, he was damn lucky Cell didn't kill him. Gohan was the one who really saved the world. My dad stole the credit for it and he lied to make people think the things Gohan and his friends can do are tricks or cheating just because he couldn't do those things. Like I said, Gohan hasn't done anything to my dad after all that, he wanted to be my friend and saved my life when I was being a pain and prying, he's not going to hurt you for calling him a nerd okay?"

Sharpner and Eresa sat on the couch with their mouths hanging open as they stared at Gohan and Videl.

"I'm sorry Gohan," Videl said. Her shoulders slumped. "It's just driving me crazy knowing that my dad lied. I don't know why you guys aren't mad at him for all the crap he's pulled."

"You know he _did_ help us save the world from Boo," Gohan consoled her. "And really, he's doing us a favor by keeping the media from hunting us down."

Videl pictured reporters swarming around Gohan. She could imagine him very politely having a nervous breakdown over it.

Gohan deduced the direction Videl's thoughts were going in and picked up where she left off. "You heard Dad this morning; no sense of discretion. And reporters would drive Piccolo-san crazy. Vegeta would use them for target practice and #18 might help him... or she might convince them to bribe her and I don't even want to think about the sort of trouble Trunks and Goten would get into. Really, we appreciate your dad drawing off the media."

"Okay, okay," Videl laughed. "But he's still in the dog house for lying to me." She noticed the glazed looks her friends were giving them and walked over to poked Eresa in the shoulder. "Ooops, I think we broke them."

Gohan waved his hand in front of Sharpener's eyes. "Information overload?" he suggested.

Videl gave the two blonds a stern shake. After a few moments they blinked and managed to pull their jaws up.

"You beat Cell," Sharpner said as he gave Gohan a bug-eyed stare.

Gohan flushed and nodded, he stared at the floor.

"And Boo..."

"I didn't," Gohan said quickly. "I fought him a couple of times but I lost. Everyone that fought him individually got beaten. It took everyone to defeat Boo; it took everyone on the whole planet to make my dad's Genki Dama powerful enough to stop him. You and Eresa did as much as I did..."

"He's cute when he's being modest," Eresa said to Videl.

Videl blushed, she didn't want to admit it but she'd been thinking the same thing.

Gohan noticed the look Eresa was giving him and quickly moved so that Videl was between them.

"Hey since we're already cutting class we ought to do something exciting," Sharpner suggested.

Gohan groaned. "I'm cutting class! And it's Calculus! Mom is going to kill me."

"You're hopeless Brains," Sharpner said, shaking his head sadly.

Gohan grinned.


	4. Hercule's Fame

**Hero's Welcome**

**Disclaimer: **Characters and premise are the property of Akira Toriyama, I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit fun.

* * *

"Mr. Satan! Mr. Satan!" the crowd's chant rose to a thunderous crescendo as the man himself took the stage.

Hercule struck a victory pose and soaked in the adulation. He was more celebrated now than he'd been since the first few months after the Cell Games and this time he could enjoy the fame without the nagging feeling that he should be looking over his shoulder for golden-haired fighters with teal-green eyes.

Hercule shook his head and thought to himself, 'That Goku had turned out to be a really nice guy.' Goku had sided with Hercule about healing the good Boo. And when he'd gone to transport them all back to Earth Goku had given Hercule a completely genuine smile and said they couldn't have done it without his help. And when it came up Goku had only seemed mildly amused by the whole stealing credit for beating Cell thing. Goku made a person feel good about the things they'd done right and he didn't dwell on the things they'd done wrong. Hercule didn't see how a guy could manage to actually dislike Goku once they'd been around him for more than a few minutes.

Hercule would have liked Gohan too except for the part where anyone with eyes could see that Gohan had feelings for Videl and what kind of father would Hercule be if he went around approving of his little girl's first love interest without at least making the guy sweat a little first?

Dende was also a nice enough kid even if Hercule was having trouble getting his brain around the idea that Kami was a four foot tall, green teenager from another planet. He might have been able to deal with the short green alien part but the idea that Kami was roughly the same age as his daughter was just too much for Hercule.

Vegeta was the only other Z-fighters Hercule had spent enough time with to really form an opinion of him as an individual and Hercule's opinion of Vegeta was- Well less an opinion than a resolve- that Hercule never wanted to find himself anywhere near Vegeta was unless Goku and/or Gohan were also there to protect him. Vegeta just didn't have the same forgiving nature that the Sons had.

Hercule should have been having the time of his life. He had a new best friend, his popularity was reaching a record high and the group he most feared didn't seem to hold grudges. But there was one thing wrong with is life and it wasn't a small thing.

Hercule gestured for the crowd to quiet down so he could talk. He put on a serious expression. "As all of you probably know, my daughter Videl was injured while fighting in the World Martial Arts Tournament; what you may not know was that her opponent in that match was the first of the Wizard Bobbidi's henchmen that any of us faced. While she has recovered physically from that match she'd still a little shaken up. So as a personal favor I'm asking you all to give her some room. She's staying at a school friend's house and just wants to get back to her daily routine without dealing with a new rush of interviews or paparazzi... Oh yeah and she sends her apologies to that reporter who startled her. Sometimes she forgets her own strength, just like her old dad," Hercule laughed heartily and hoped internally that he hadn't said anything that would further upset his volatile daughter.

Hercule winced at the memory of his last conversation with Videl.

When Hercule brought up the unfortunate reporter who'd been hounding Videl for an interview she'd snapped "I hate living a lie! I hate liars and you're making me one!"

"Now Videl you heard Gohan," Hercule had tried to placate her. "He doesn't want the recognition and if I told people that I didn't beat Cell, well they'd want to know who did."

"And Gohan is the one and only reason I haven't said anything," Videl had said as she scowled at him. "If I told the truth would you let them call _me _a liar or would you finally confess? Are you going to say I use tricks and that I cheat when they ask about my ability to fly?"

"Now sweetpea, you know I'd never let anything hurt you," Hercule had protested.

"No! What I _know_ is that you've lied to me about everything for _seven years_!" Videl had exclaimed.

"Not everything," Hercule had temporized. "Just one thing really. One big thing admittedly but-"

"Why won't you spar with me?" Videl demanded suddenly.

"I wouldn't want to hurt my little sweetpea," Hercule had begun but Videl turned around and walked out of the room. "Sweetie? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to stay with Eresa." Videl had said. "If I spend one more minute under this roof I might regret what I do."

"Alright Videl, you have a good time with your friend. When will you be coming home?"

"I don't know," Videl had said and Hercule hadn't seen her since then.

Hercule finished his press conference then went back inside. He carefully shut the door then called "It's okay Boo, you can come out now."

The pink genie came out of one of the mansion's inner rooms and grinned. "See what Bee learn!" he exclaimed then beamed like a proud parent while his puppy demonstrated it's ability to walk on two legs.

"Wow, that's really good Boo!" Hercule enthused. "Did, um, did Videl stop by today? I mean she must be running out of clothes at least."

Boo looked sad, he knew his friend Mr. Satan missed his daughter. "No Videl-san," he reported. "Boo go get?"

"No! no! You don't have to do that Boo," Hercule said quickly. "Remember I want hr to come home because she wants to come home, not because someone made her do it."

"Someone else coming," Boo said hoping the news would cheer his friend up.

Before Hercule could ask who Goku appeared in his livingroom. "Sorry about not knocking," Goku said cheerfully. "I couldn't get through the crowd out front."

"What brings you by Son-san?" Hercule said.

"Goku," the other fighter corrected with a grin. "Bulma's throwing a get-together. I asked Videl to invite you but she said she wasn't talking to you so I figured I'd just invite you guys myself. I figured Boo would want to get out a little and Capsule Corp is pretty good at keeping reporters out... well actually they used to try to sneak in I guess, but a few of them met Vegeta and now they don't try... It'll be fine. Besides, Chi wants to get to know Videl's family better. So I'll see you there?"

Hercule nodded dumbly.

"It's this Saturday at Capsule Corps, Bulma says show up any time after 11:00 in the afternoon," Goku relayed then popped out.

Hercule stared at the spot where the Saiyan had been for several moments then wailed, "My baby-girl has a serious boyfriend and she'd not even talking to me! She'll get married and I'll never see her again!"

Boo patted him on the shoulder consolingly.

* * *

Saturday rolled around and Hercule drove toward Capsule Corp with a feeling of doom simmering in his gut. He wasn't sure what worried him more: the though of facing the Z-fighters or facing his daughter.

The little, purple-haired demon-boy from the tournament opened the door. He glared suspiciously at Boo. "You're not going to fight my dad again," he said, there was a threat in his voice but his eyes were haunted by the memory of his father's suicide gambit against the genie.

"Boo friend!"

"That's what Goten's dad said," Trunks allowed. "I just wanted to hear it from you." He stood aside and let the pair in.

After a few moments Hercule realized the boy was following them, watching him curiously. "Do you want an autograph?" Hercule asked.

Trunks snickered then asked, "Did you fake losing during the exhibition match or did you fake my punch not hurting?"

And Hercule was reminded once again that his status as the world's savior was basically a joke to these people. He grinned ruefully. "Both actually," he admitted. "After watching you and your friend fight I knew I didn't have a chance if I fought you for real so I 'let' you win with the first punch so it wouldn't look so bad." Hercule touched his jaw gingerly. "But I think you knocked out a couple of teeth with that punch."

"Sorry," Trunks said unapologetically. Then he added. "I guess you take a punch okay for a weakling human." He grinned briefly. "You're sneaky," the way Trunks said it, it wasn't an insult.

Hercule found himself wishing that his child would be that easy to win over. "So, uh, kid, is Videl around somewhere?"

Trunks shrugged. "Gohan's girlfriend? Yeah, probably."

The door bell rang again and Trunks opened the door for Kuririn, #18 and their daughter.

#18 noticed Hercule. "You owe me money," she informed him coolly.

Hercule gulped as he remembered their 'deal' from the finals match of the tournament. "The check's in the mail."

"It had better be," #18 replied.

"Good seeing you," Kuririn said cheerfully.

They headed deeper into Capsule Corp with the confidence of someone who belonged there. Hercule glanced around and discovered that Trunks and Boo had wandered off while he had been distracted. He sighed and headed in hoping to find a chance to talk with Videl, instead he found Piccolo.

"Hey, you're like that Guardian kid, only taller," Hercule said happily. During the whole time when he, Dende and Bee were the only ones on Earth Dende hadn't done anything scary. 'Kami was a nice kid,' Hercule thought.

Piccolo gave Hercule a look that indicated that the Word's Champ was somewhat lower than gum scraped off the bottom of Piccolo's shoe.

"So, are you his father or something?" Hercule continued obliviously.

"Do not talk to me," Piccolo stated.

A scared man grabbed Hercule's arm and steered him away from Piccolo. "Piccolo isn't the social type. He's only here because Gohan's bringing Videl. Sometimes you'd think Piccolo was Gohan's dad and not Goku with the way he worries about that kid."

"You're Yamcha, the baseball player," Hercule realized.

"Guilty as charged," Yamcha said.

"I don't think the green guy likes me," Hercule confided.

"Like I said, he's real close to Gohan and even though Gohan doesn't want the fame it was still a pretty crappy thing you did, stealing his victory like that."

"So pretty much everyone here hates me," Hercule sighed. "I knew I shouldn't have come."

"I'm glad you came," Yamcha declared. He slapped Hercule on the shoulder hard enough to stagger the other man. "It means I'm finally not the bottom rung when it comes to the fighters around here. It's been almost twenty years since Kuririn surpassed me."

"Bully for you," Hercule muttered. He resolved to find Videl as quickly as possible, make his amends with her than get back to the real world where everyone thought he was the best just as fast as he could.

Hercule wandered around the party until he spotted Videl sitting on a couch, curled up against Gohan. Hercule hesitated, he really wanted to talk to her alone, he was going to have to grovel and he didn't want her -cringe- boyfriend seeing that, but if he asked he had a feeling she'd tell him to go to hell.

"They make cute couple don't you agree?" A woman asked, she seemed about two seconds from shrieking gleefully. "I'm Son Chichi, Gohan's mother," she introduced herself.

Videl was leaning into Gohan staring up at him in a way that had the boy beet red. "So is there anything you want to tell me about hmmm?" she purred. "Like about Saiyans and why you have a tail in the extremely cute baby pictures your mom showed me?"

Gohan gulped, there was something about Videl's proximity that turned his brain into mush and besides he really did need to tell her before... if possible Gohan turned even more red at the direction his thoughts were taking.

"Well for me it all started when I was four years old and my dad took me to meet some friends of his..." Gohan began.

Across the room Hercule sighed in defeat. "I did say she could date if her boyfriend could defeat me."

Chichi smiled warmly. "Then we won't have any problems." Then she cooed "I'm gonna have grandbabies!!"

Hercule flinched at the thought of his little girl having some boy's baby. "She's gotta graduate high school first!" he protested. "And maybe college too. Videl's real smart, like her mom. I wonder if she wants to get a doctorate or something, that takes a real long time right?"


End file.
